Westpac's changing face

Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly will be worse off without the sage advice of Phil Chronican, whose depth of knowledge about the bank and understanding of the numbers is unequalled by other senior executives.

But his departure can also be seen in a positive light. It is a signal that the environment in which Westpac operates has stabilised sufficiently for the bank to withstand unsettling management upheaval.

Chronican worked closely with Kelly on the integration of the St George banking business, including the shifting of larger and more troubled business account customers into the institutional bank.

Kelly today praised Chronican's intellectual breadth and commercial acumen, which she would have called upon during the dark days of the global financial crisis in late 2008.

Chronican's departure is not a surprise. He was passed over for the top job when David Morgan left the bank in 2007. There is industry talk that he was approached to join Commonwealth Bank last year but knocked back the offer.

He said that after 27 years the time was right to look for new challenges.

Chronican would have realised that his chances of succeeding Kelly were slim after having been passed over once.

Also, he would have noted that Kelly has been filling the upper ranks of the bank with trusted advisors and lieutenants from her past at St George and Commonwealth Bank.

Kelly's management changes are all part of a cultural change program to make Westpac more like St George.

The St George-related appointments were swelled today with the appointment of Greg Targett as chief risk officer. Targett, who was chief risk officer at St George before the merger, joins other former St George colleagues Peter Clare and Greg Bartlett in the top executive team.

Other outsiders who have joined Kelly's inner circle since she arrived at Westpac include former CBA chief information officer Bob McKinnon and former CBA and NAB executive George Frazis.

Another long-standing friend and confidante of Kelly is the general counsel John Arthur. He is the former Gilbert Tobin lawyer who made his name in corporate circles by delivering Investa Property Group into the hands of Morgan Stanley on the cusp of the global meltdown.

Kelly has always encouraged a collegiate atmosphere but the numbers show that the Westpac executives who once dominated upper management ranks are now in the minority.

Chronican's departure removes a strong candidate from the succession planning matrix in front of the Westpac board of directors.

But his replacement as head of the institutional bank, Rob Whitfield, has impressive credentials and strong links to Westpac's corporate memory.

Whitfield led the team that masterminded the St George takeover and he also led the integration team.

He worked his way through the ranks of Westpac after starting in 1986 as a graduate trainee in corporate banking.

Whitfield worked as a foreign exchange dealer before shifting to London as Westpac's chief dealer, financial derivatives.

He brings with him a deep understanding of the risk management methodologies instilled under former chief executive Bob Joss, having worked under David Fite for two years before becoming group treasurer.